Shadow of the Mist
by umbrashadow
Summary: The secrets of the present are hidden within the truths - and lies - of the past. Deals with Naruto-verse history, intrigue, and deception. Focused around the Uchihas/Akatsuki; mainly Madara, Itachi, OC. Spoilers up to around 404.
1. Curiosity

**Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or any of the Uchihas or any other of these lovely people, except for the originals.**

**Warnings - Violence, Language, possible mature content in future chapters**

**Reviews, as always, appreciated**

**.................................................................**

Curiosity, her aunt had always chided her, killed the cat.

She always thought that was slightly silly, considering she didn't really worry about dying very much. But she was still feeling the consequences of her last patch of curiosity, even after her long rest – but still, these people always drew her back. These people, and one person in particular.

She could feel him, still alive, somewhere close by. The twin pitches of brain and heart throbbed softly at the edge of her consciousness. In a way, she was surprised he was still alive – but then again, he had always been the resourceful one.

She sat on a cliff, looking down over a vast city. In the distance, she could see the shimmer of the ocean at the edge of the island, and the other island peaks in the distance. The Land of Water looked peaceful, after all this time. She couldn't even see traces of the battles that had been fought over the land so many years ago.

It gave her hope. Still, she knew quite well that surface appearances could be deceiving – and people, even the ones she claimed as her own, were not always well suited to peace. It might be best, she thought, to keep a low profile; at least until she knew the current state of affairs. It wouldn't do to spoil the game too quickly.

...

The two men walked down the road with the ease of a well-established partnership. They were silent in their travel; one of them rarely spoke unless necessary, and the other didn't really care. They were almost home – or at least, to the place that passed for home nowadays – and he was more than ready.

The last few hours of their journey had been peaceful. The mountain road was normally deserted. It didn't really lead anywhere, only to a small half-forgotten shrine. Oddly enough, however, he saw a figure sitting at the side of the road, dressed in some sort of hooded white cloak. Something about the cloak nagged at his memory, but he couldn't quite place it. He didn't worry too much about it. The woman – for he could see now that the figure was a woman – didn't seem to be much of a threat. She didn't even seem to notice their approach – she was too intent on the view of the city below. The view, he had to admit, was rather spectacular.

...

She sighed quietly, her perusal of the city interrupted by two travelers on the road behind her. The last thing she wanted to do was have to try and make conversation – not yet. Maybe later when she was more awake. Perhaps, she thought, they would pass her by without notice. The best thing to do was probably act as if she hadn't noticed them, and they would go on about their business, leaving her to her own.

This of course would have been the better course of action to take. But curiosity had always been one of her greatest weaknesses. Just one look couldn't hurt, could it? And so, she took one quick look, just to satisfy her curiosity. But what she saw only made her more interested.

The two men walking towards her wore black and red robes, and had on straw rain hats. One was tall and definably one of her people – the shark skin was a dead give-away – and the other was shorter. Only a glimpse of his face was visible. But she would know that bone structure and that family anywhere – she looked quite similar them herself. It was one more thing to factor into the situation at hand. For some reason, there were Uchihas back in the Land of Water. She was certain the reason would be quite interesting, and one to ferret out in the near future.

Unfortunately, the future decided to come sooner than she expected.

...

Itachi noticed everything. Especially things that were out of place, even if they seemed to be harmless. Including a girl sitting at the side of the road. Including the glance she had sent towards him and his partner. Including the flash of expression in that glance, expression that spoke of surprise and some sort of recognition – but no fear. Including the fact that the face seemed to be an echo of familiar, with dark hair, pale skin, and black eyes. All of these things were somewhat unusual. None, however, seemed to be cause for immediate alarm, or enough of a reason to stop. The girl had no chakra evident, no signs of being a ninja, no telltale tension that spoke of her attention on them rather than the view she gazed out at. It was merely unusual. There were more important matters to be concerned with, and so he continued on his way.

Kisame, however, had other ideas.

A few yards past the girl, he stopped, narrowing his eyes as if he finally remembered what the robe reminded him of. His face, when he turned towards the girl, however, held no sign of anger – only a shark-toothed grin.

...

For a moment, she thought the danger was passed – but no such luck. She heard the men stop, and one start to walk towards her. Sighing again, she stood and turned towards him, pushing her hood away from her face and looking up at him expectantly.

"Excuse me," he said, "but I was wondering where your escort was."

She looked at him and blinked. "My escort?" Ok, possibly not the wittiest response, she thought, but excused herself based on the fact that she had only been awake a few hours. At least now she knew it didn't seem that the language had changed. Unless the word escort had gained new meaning as some sort of euphemism.

"Yes, well, this road is known to be dangerous, you know."

"Oh really?" she said, glancing around. "It seems rather peaceful to me." She saw that the Uchiha was still standing a few yards away, observing the conversation without expression.

"Oh," said the man in front of her, "but there are all sorts of villains, and robbers lurking about. Hardly the place for a young, innocent woman alone to keep safe." The look he gave her, however, seemed to imply that she was anything but innocent. She knew a leer when she saw one – things hadn't changed that much. Things, it seemed, were not going to just stay simple.

She schooled her face into an expression of innocent shock, flipping through options in her mind. She still hoped for some semblance of low profile. The options presenting themselves were shredding that hope – at least somewhat – but one does ones best with the hand fate deals. Keeping her eyes on him, she mentally recalculated the distance between herself and the Uchiha. Not much of a head start – but she was also very fast. Hopefully it would be enough.

She raised a hand to her face – show that you are unarmed. At least in that hand. "Oh dear," she said (hopefully convincingly, at least for a moment), "I had no idea!" She raised her hand to his cheek – unexpected, but not threatening, hopefully putting off enough of the idiot vibe to pull this off, or at least have him guarded against the other hand, that might have a weapon. "Thank you so much for letting me know!" A pat to the cheek – anesthetic injected into the skin – and she took off and was away before the body even hit the ground, speeding into the woods as fast as she could.

One thing she forgot, however. Uchihas are very fast as well.

....

The first two kunais should have found their mark. She grimaced and threw them back in his direction without pausing in her flight. She leapt from tree to tree as she ran back around the mountain, deeper into the woods and away from the city. As much as possible, she behaved herself, using her body to dodge the random projectiles and looking ahead to see where she should land, though she felt very rusty at this type of situation. It had been a long time since someone had chased her with killing intent. She could just slip away – but that would be cheating. And would show more of her hand than she intended, at least this early.

A random burst of fire caught her by surprise and made her leap to the right in delayed reaction, hoping he wouldn't wonder why she wasn't singed. She remembered Uchihas and their fire. She remembered Uchihas and their chakra. And now she had to deal with some of that chakra running amok through her body before she was quite ready to deal with it – probably not the best of occurrences. But she could handle a little chakra, couldn't she?

Come to think of it, this chase was actually rather fun. Invigorating, really. It had been ages since her body had been pushed anywhere close to its limits. Ages since she'd engaged in anything remotely resembling combat, especially with someone of decent caliber. As she jumped to the right to avoid another burst of flame behind her, she felt herself coming closer to the location of her closest possible ally. She didn't want to alarm that one, however, unless it was at last resort.

It took her a while to realize that the tenor of the attacks from behind had changed. For a moment, she wondered if her pursuer was tiring – his attacks kept falling slightly to her left. If he wasn't tiring, then it was almost as if he was… herding her? In the same lazy spiral around the mountain she was taking already? She furrowed her brow – this was one reason she hated chakra, it always interfered with her thinking process. Before she had the time to quite process the thought, the woods before her opened up to a clearing at the base of a tall cliff.

It only cost her a moment's pause to process the sight and calculate the jump necessary to scale the cliff – but that was a moment too long. She was pushed to the ground with a knee in her back and a hand in her long hair, pulling her head back while another hand held a kunai to her throat.

Check.

She looked down at the ground and narrowed her eyes, breathing quickly. The edge of the kunai bit against her skin. He wasn't pushing in enough to cut, at least not yet. He was, however, pulling slowly, but inexorably, on her hair, making her head bend further backwards, trying to make her look up at him. A smile flashed across her face. She remembered Uchihas and their genjutsu. A curious tactic to try at this point in the fight, but – it could be interesting. She'd never had the pleasure. She wasn't even sure it would actually work – but it did make her curious. So she gambled, glanced up at his face, and fell into a sea of red and black.

...

The first thing she noticed was the almost complete loss of sensation. It was very very odd. She looked around. They appeared to be in the same clearing as before, but he stood in front of her a few steps. She could hear the sound of her breathing and his, she could even smell the forest and feel the earth under her feet – but everything else was almost absent. She closed her eyes a moment and tried to feel it, and it was there – but so quiet. So small. Almost not even noticeable.

"You aren't afraid."

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "No." She furrowed her brow slightly, trying to remember how someone would feel if they were afraid, but it was no use. "Should I be?"

He lifted an eyebrow at that. "Hn." He took a moment to look her over, as if trying to decide just what to do with her.

She returned the favor by studying him as well. His cloak was black, with red clouds on it. It seemed the rain hat had been discarded in their flight. He had longer black hair, held up out of his eyes with a blue headband. She stilled a moment, recognizing the symbol that adorned the headband. This added another level of complexity to the game.

"Who are you?" he finally asked.

"Hmm," she said, wanting to make sure she remembered her name correctly in this language. "Kaimi."

"What are you doing here?"

She quirked an eyebrow at him, glanced around, then back into his eyes. He narrowed his eyes at her, and she felt something odd, like pressure against her skin – and he frowned even more. She sighed, and relented slightly. "You captured me? Trapped me in your genjutsu?"

He paused. "And watching the city?"

"Enjoying the view." She shrugged, and looked away, wondering how hard it would be to break out of the illusion.

"What did you do to Kisame?"

She chuckled dryly, then sighed. "Tried to avoid a fight." She flicked her gaze up to his face again, but it was expressionless. "He's fine, by the way, or will be in a few minutes."

"Hn." He looked at her, waiting for her to be more forthcoming. She met his gaze boldly, starting to feel the aftereffects of the earlier chakra as it worked its way out of her system. They were muted, but still annoying. She had a feeling her body would be complaining about this little experiment with genjutsu as well, all of which were beginning to make her a bit testy.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"Water," she replied, shifting in place slightly. She caught the raised eyebrow, and sighed. "The Land of Water."

"You're a very poor liar."

She frowned at him, and snapped back, "Maybe you're just bad at reading the truth."

"Hn."

She'd forgotten, until that moment, how annoying Uchihas could be when they weren't feeling communicative. It was, on top of everything else, just a bit too much. Before she could catch herself, she said, "Like a Uchiha from Konohagakure would be able to tell me I wasn't from my own land?!"

His reaction was so swift, she almost didn't catch it. Slight surprise, slight confusion, neither one of which she could completely understand. And then a stillness as he caught her reaction. She cursed at herself silently, the last thing she should have done in this situation was to give away knowledge. There was no telling what might have changed, or what the current relationship was between Kohona and the Land of Water. But she was not used to having to deal with Uchihas trying to interrogate her; she was far more used to at least some semblance of trust.

She felt it again, that odd pressure, then a slight tugging. She looked at him, awaiting his response to her little outburst, and saw that he was beginning to look slightly angry. And tired, she noted absently – in his eyes. And the slightest hint in his shoulders.

After a few moments, the anger was gone, replaced by a cool expression of appraisal.

"What are you?"

Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she smiled a mysterious little smile. "That," she said, "is a very interesting question."

He narrowed his eyes at her one last time, then disappeared.

She looked around to see him, but suddenly all she could see was black. Then sound was gone. And scent. And the feeling of the ground beneath her feet. She couldn't even feel herself move. It was almost like being put at the bottom of the darkest part of the ocean – except it wasn't nearly as calm.

...

When Kisame entered the clearing, he saw Itachi kneeling next to the unconscious form of the woman who had knocked him out, studying her face. They exchanged a glance.

"Taking her prisoner instead of killing her?" Kisame asked.

Itachi gave a slight nod, checking the bonds at her wrists and then looking up at his partner. "You recognized her from somewhere?"

"No," Kisame said, coming closer to the pair, "but I did recognize this." He nudged at the woman's white cloak, a long garment of rich silky fabric that completely enveloped her body, except for her hands, feet, and head. The cuffs and hood were edged in bands of symbols embroidered in white thread. "There's no way it can belong to her."

"She said her name was Kaimi, and that she was from the Land of Water."

Kisame shrugged. "Never heard of her. And I doubt anyone from the Land of Water would be going around dressed in that, at least not on honest business. Maybe as a disguise, but anyone from around here would know what a poor disguise it is."

"Hn." Itachi took a few moments to check over the body. No weapons that he could discern. No calluses on the hand to indicate ninja training, or any type of labor at all. The nails appeared to be short and well kept, unpolished. No shoes on her feet, and no cuts or scrapes either, despite their journey through the woods. The cloak, he noticed, was pristine. No signs of cuts or burns. No sign of blood or even dirt. He did notice a bit of dirt smudged on her check, and some leaves in her hair. Her face reminded him of his family, but it was slightly sharper, slightly thinner, and her eyes, he remembered, were true black.

He replayed their encounter in his mind. It raised many questions for which he did not yet have answers. She appeared to have no chakra, and yet she was obviously not just an ordinary citizen. She had taken no damage from any of his techniques – her neck wasn't even slightly scratched from where he had held the kunai against it earlier. She seemed to know both too much and too little. She had made no aggressive movements against him, apart from returning various weapons with throws that seemed to be more geared to distract than wound – and yet, when captured, she had shown no signs of fear. And no signs of pain, or any reaction except irritation, inside the genjutsu.

She also seemed to be holding back, and hiding something. Hiding many things, actually. Even if she was a poor liar. She was also potentially useful, at least until they had answers. And the emotion on her face when she mentioned Konoha bore investigation.

He picked her up and stood, glancing at his partner.

Kisame was still scowling at the woman, his fingers tapping against the hilt of Samehada. "If you want, I can carry her," he said.

Itachi just shook his head and started off for their base.


	2. Captured

**Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or any of the Uchihas or any other of these lovely people, except for the originals.**

**Warnings - Violence, Language, possible mature content in future chapters**

**Reviews, as always, appreciated.**

**.................................................................**

When she opened her eyes, it was dark. The first thing she saw was the Uchiha's face above her own. The first thing she felt was a blinding headache, causing her to wince and close her eyes to take a few calming breaths. Her body was bound to a flat surface. She tested the bonds slightly – metal, it felt like, around her wrists and ankles. She opened her eyes and glanced around. She was no longer outside, but was being held in what appeared to be a cave of some sort or a very big room, lit by torches. The Uchiha was at her right shoulder, looking down at her impassively. Beside him was the other man from before, his grin revealing a mouthful of shark teeth. On her other side stood a man with orange spiky hair and one with a mask covering most of his face. A silver-haired man lounged against the wall a few feet away, watching the situation with a faint air of distaste. They all looked a little bit dangerous. Probably not the best situation she could have gotten herself into, especially so soon after the awakening when everything was still a bit choppy.

On the other hand, she could feel the pulse of the other one much closer than before – probably a few levels below her. She wondered if they knew he was there. She wondered if he was their prisoner, enemy, or ally. It appeared that, whatever game he had gotten involved in this time, at least it was interesting. She should probably be at least a bit careful around these four.

The one with orange hair appeared to be at least nominally in charge. He stared into her eyes, and asked, "Who are you?"

"Kaimi," she said, flicking a glance up at the Uchiha.

"Where are you from?"

"The Land of Water." It really wasn't technically a lie. It just wasn't technically exactly what they would consider as true. But the full story would take way too long, and she wasn't a real believer in radical honesty anyhow.

"Who do you work for?"

She parted her lips to reply, then closed them, trying to think of a good answer. "No one?" she said, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

The shark snorted. "So you just happen to be hanging around this area for no fucking reason?"

"I liked the view? Coincidences do happen, you know," she replied, frowning at him. For the first time, she noticed – really noticed – the sword he was carrying. Her assessment of this was distracted by the feeling of a hand on her upper arm.

"You're hiding something," said the Uchiha. "What are you hiding?"

She almost glanced up into his eyes, but remembered in time. That was one question she really couldn't afford to answer truthfully, especially with the whole truth. When she didn't answer, she felt chakra enter her body from his hand. She thought he probably meant it to encourage her answer. She wasn't sure how he expected it to affect her – but it probably wasn't the way it actually did.

It felt very good. Like pure energy flowing through her body, pure pleasure. She caught her breath and closed her eyes, trying to will herself to relax. She hated this feeling, this seductive intoxication that pulled at the edges of her reason, getting worse as more was fed into her. Vaguely she could hear the two men at her right side discussing her, the leader asking the other if he could find any record of someone matching her description in some book, but the edges of everything grew hazy. She saw the leader say one more thing then turn as if to leave, and the other one beside him reach down towards her chest.

Her reaction was all instinct, and rage fed by the energy inside her. He made a satisfying thump as he flew into the wall behind him. She turned to glare at him, fists tightening in her shackles, part of her still striving for some sense of self-control while the rest only saw threat. Primal threat. Threat she had trained her whole life to defend from, never mind if part of her mind was screaming that this man wasn't the type of threat she thought he was. It was easy to ignore that voice. It felt good to have him pinned up against the wall, powerless. The rage felt very good.

...

"Keep your fucking hands off me, you rakathshai son of a bitch."

Itachi looked down at the girl and stilled his hand on her arm, then over at Kakuzu against the wall. Kakuzu looked furious – and helpless as he tried to struggle. Itachi looked closer and saw a net of tiny almost invisible lines all over his form that appeared to be holding him in place.

The girl was still ranting at Kakuzu, and had slipped into a harsh sounding tongue, ignoring everyone but the object of her wrath.

"Oh for petes sake," said Hidan, getting up and coming over. He shook his head and rammed his pike down through the girl's chest, then stood back and said, "Satisfied?"

She didn't even seem to notice, though everyone else certainly did. There was no blood, no reaction. Hidan shook the pike a bit, then sighed, and said, "Urkathshin."

That caught her attention. She whipped her head around to face him, then noticed the pike stuck in the middle of her chest. Her eyes clouded for a moment, as she looked between it and Hidan, who continued, "Urkathshin, ne es rakathshai, es tenos."

Something of that message appeared to sink in. She glared down at Kisame and said, "What about you? Are you going to attack me too, with that big sword of yours? You've wanted to since you first saw me, haven't you?"

Kisame narrowed his eyes then grinned wide, slowly unwrapping Samehada. "I thought you'd never ask."

He glanced over at Itachi for a moment, then after receiving no signal to hold back, swung the great sword down at the body of the girl in a crushing arc.

The response was instantaneous. She arched her back, then relaxed, panting slightly and closing her eyes. Kisame frowned slightly at his weapon, moving it back and forth a bit with no obvious effect, though he'd felt the chakra drain out of her. Kakuzu was still held against the wall. After a minute, she opened her eyes and looked over at him, blushing slightly.

"Sorry," she muttered, letting him down.

He would have rushed at her, but Pain held up a hand. "Wait," he said, then looked inquiringly at Hidan. "Urkathshin?"

Hidan nodded, reaching over and drawing his pike out of her chest almost respectfully. "It means undying one."

She blinked slowly up at him, eyes alighting on his necklace with a slight look of surprise.

Pain raised an eyebrow, then said, "Itachi, she's your prisoner. We'll deal with this more in the morning."

Itachi nodded and pulled her chin towards him, knocking her out again as the orange-haired man left the room.

Kakuzu came over more calmly and looked down at her. "Are you sure I can't kill her?"

"Not likely, at least not if she is what I think she is." said Hidan.

His partner scowled, and said, "Fine. What did you say to her, anyways?"

Hidan chuckled as he turned to leave the room. "I just reassured her you weren't trying anything, um, untoward; you just wanted to kill her."

Kakuzu shook his head and followed his partner out of the room.

Kisame looked over at Itachi. "You going to be ok with this one?"

"Hn."

"Alright then, goodnight." He turned, sparing one ugly glance back at the unconscious form of the girl before leaving the room.

...

A quiet moan woke Itachi from a light doze. He'd brought the woman to his room earlier, wanting to keep an eye on her in the hopes he might find answers to some of the many questions she raised. He sat in a chair near the bed that the woman lay on. He noticed the empty cuffs still attached to the headboard. She was curled up in a ball facing him, caught in the depths of sleep – and it appeared, a nightmare.

He narrowed his eyes. Secrets, he knew, were often revealed in dreams, when the mind let down its defenses. And it was secrets that he sought to uncover. He sat on the edge of the bed, and gently opened the eyes of the sleeping woman, gazing deep to see the horrors that she saw.

...

Kaimi didn't notice when her nightmares calmed. She didn't notice the dark form hovering at the edge of the scene before her. This journey of memory was one she had traveled many times, knowing the curse of history and the inability to change it.

War was something that had been fairly new to her, once upon a time. Her people did not engage in war, as such. Of course, war is something that requires some sort of social organization, a conflict between one group or another. For her people, the conflict was all one on one. And there were no such thing as peace treaties. Only the victor and the spoils. She was very very good at not becoming the spoils. Good enough that staying safely home, year after year, had started to lose its appeal. And so, she had gone wandering.

The people she found had civilization. Their men and women got along – well, more often than not – and even stayed together to form families. They taught her about actually living life – and that valuing life over death was not merely about retaining ones sanity, but about finding joy, and love, and happiness. And that sometimes, that very life was worth fighting to protect.

She couldn't fight for them – not really – but she could at least try to protect. And she had other talents that came in handy when it came to helping these people, her people, when they were threatened by war. But even with her skill, it was never enough.

...

She could hear shouts of men coming down the hallway towards the sickroom where she worked. The Daimyo's son's family had been ambushed on the way back from their summer house. That part of the country had been safe from the conflict raging around the edges of their land, but a small contingent had broken through the lines and staged a sneak attack. She could tell that things were bad. The prince's pulse was beating rapidly, his wife's was slow and weak, and their son's – barely hanging on.

Men burst into the room, carrying the bodies. She glanced up in assessment. Some sort of poisoned weapons, it looked like arrows. The wife and her child were the worst hit. The Daimyo's son had a gash on one leg, but he was conscious, and otherwise alright. She doubted he would need her services.

She motioned for them to place the child on the pallet in front of her, and she began to go to work, sinking her consciousness into the small form to find where the damage was and extract the poison. The human body was a fragile thing, but she understood it completely. After having to hold her own body together in this physical form, healing others came naturally.

After a few moments, she sat back.

"How is he?" said the prince, trying not to look anxious.

"Fine," she said, smoothing the hair back from the child's brow. "He will just need some sleep."

Another man opened the sickroom door. She looked back at him. He was a warrior, she could tell, with wild black hair. His eyes were red and black. Unusual, in a human. But she had heard that some of the mercenaries that had come on recently had strange eyes, and even stranger talents.

"Uchiha-san," said the prince, "Thank you for saving my family."

The dark-haired man nodded. "I heard you had a healer?" he said, looking at Kaimi. "My brother was hit in the attack.

One of the royal flunkies that had come in with the prince sputtered, "She is the royal healer! Not just for anyone."

Kaimi was fairly certain, from the look on the mercenary's face, that the flunky was lucky to keep his life.

"Bring him in," she said, "I'll take care of him after the princess."

"But, the prince is still injured!"

The prince sighed, and put a hand on the flunky's shoulder. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch. I just wanted to make sure my family was safe."

The mercenary nodded and left to get his brother.

Kaimi bent to take care of the prince's wife. It was always interesting to come across new poisons. This one seemed to want to inflame the tissue until the cell walls burst. That, alongside of the cutting injuries caused by the arrows, made the wife's case slightly more difficult. But not impossible.

She sat back and wiped her eyes. "Done," she said, and looked around. The mercenary had his brother laid out on a pallet on the other side of the room, and was watching her patiently with his strange red and black eyes.

She went over to the injured man and looked him over. He was shorter than the other man, and looked to be a bit younger. The arrows had caught his right side, fortunately not piercing the heart, but he was in a bad way. She knelt to do further assessment, frowning slightly.

"I may not be able to heal all his damage," she said, looking up at the mercenary. "The poison and the arrow wounds I can handle, but it appears there may have been some damage to his eyes?"

"That's fine," said the man. "It's… unrelated."

She nodded, and bent to her task. The man's body was – unusual. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. It didn't interfere with her healing, but he was definitely different than the other humans she had treated.

When she sat back from her work, she saw it was evening. The prince and his family had left the room. The mercenary was kneeling next to her, watching her with infinite patience. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Your brother is fine. He needs to sleep for a few hours, but otherwise everything will be fine."

He nodded. "Your talent for healing is unusual."

She shrugged.

"We have healers in our family, but I don't know that any of them could have healed things like that. Is this talent common in the Land of Water?"

She shook her head. "But, it's something I can do for them."

"For them? You aren't from this land?"

She shrugged. "I – in a way. It's complicated. But I do consider them to be my people."

"I see. Then they are lucky to have you, especially at such a time as this." He smoothed the hair from his brother's brow. "It's too bad there aren't more like you. We could use you at the front lines. I have a feeling things are going to start getting even worse – if we've been hired, it's probably because another ninja clan has been hired by the other side."

"Ninja?" she asked.

He nodded, looking at her appraisingly. She looked down at her hands.

"Are things really so bad there, at the front lines?"

He nodded. "Here in the city, people are still relatively safe. The attack on the prince's family was an anomaly, though it may be only the first of many such attacks. But on the front lines, there are countless dying and wounded, on both sides – and not nearly enough medics. It's too bad – but I suppose the Daimyo's family needs you here as well."

She glanced at him, and shrugged, getting up and brushing off her robe. "Let me know if there are any further complications with your brother."

He nodded. "Thank you."

"Thank you for being here to fight for them." She turned and left to go to her quarters.

That had been the first time she met Madara Uchiha, though she didn't know his name then. But even at the start of their relationship, he manipulated her, subtly, knowing how to get his own way. All in the best interests of his family, of course.


	3. The Price of War

**Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or any of the Uchihas or any other of these lovely people, except for the originals.**

**Warnings - Violence, Language, possible mature content in future chapters**

**Reviews, as always, appreciated.**

**.................................................................**

She knew he was manipulating her, of course. Telling a healer that there were people in pain, who needed help? Especially when she had shown no reluctance to help even a mercenary? But still, what he said was true. And it haunted her, had haunted her all of the months that the war had been going on.

Besides, she was curious. She wanted to know more about these "ninja" fighters.

And so, the next day, she found herself in the courtyard outside the Daimyo's throne room. The Uchiha was there as well, but he did not pay much notice to her. He was busy reading over some report, probably from the front. She was tempted to ask where his brother had gone, but didn't want to disturb him.

Instead, she just waited, checking the runes on the sleeve of her robe. All of them were calm. Only her aunt and cousin had any idea where she was, hopefully. She wasn't sure how the people here would react to unexpected visitors, and they were dealing with enough violence as it was.

The Uchiha went in first, leaving her alone in the courtyard except for some random royal retainers. She didn't really keep track of them. She loved the royal family, but the hangers on mainly annoyed her. They were like paper balloons, puffed up with self-importance but no real substance or personality. They held no interest for her.

After a few moments, she was called into the presence of the Daimyo. The Uchiha was at the side of the room, conferring with one of the Daimyo's guards. He glanced at her briefly.

She bowed before the Daimyo. The old man sat on a throne, and was wrapped in colorful embroidered robes, smoking a long thin pipe. He waved a hand in acknowledgement.

"Healer." said the Daimyo. "I hear we should thank you for our grandson's life."

She shrugged. "It was my pleasure. Your family is precious to me."

"For which, we are very grateful."

Their eyes met for a moment. She had first met him when he was still a relatively young man, his son still in his early teens. His family had helped her learn about their people, and their ways. And, they accepted her oddities. In return, she had promised to protect them to the best of her abilities.

Before the war, that had meant things like helping with childbirth, or dealing with a random hunting accident. Now, things were a bit different. But she felt the family was relatively safe here – and that there were other things she could do to help ensure that safety.

"I have a request."

"Oh?"

"I would like your leave to go to the front lines, to help out with the wounded there."

She noticed that the Uchiha has stilled his conversation, and was looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"I see."

"But," said one of the flunkies, "You are needed here! What if something should happen to the Daimyos family while you are out with all those commoners?"

The Daimyo glanced at the flunky, then back at her.

"They should be safe here," she said, "and if I can help the effort at the front, they may remain that way. Besides, if anything serious should happen… I will know, and will be back quickly."

"Hm," said the Daimyo, considering. "Your ways, healer, are different indeed. But, our people are close to our heart, and we appreciate the ones who have agreed to help us in our time of need," he said, waving at the Uchiha. "You have blessed this family with good health ever since we have known you, and we do not begrudge your desire to spread this blessing onto those under our protection."

"Thank you sir."

He nodded. "Uchiha-san," he said, looking at the dark-haired man.

"Yes sir?"

"Can you ensure the safety of our healer, if we let her go with you back to the front? She is a valuable resource, and we would hate for anything to happen to her."

The Uchiha looked at her and they exchanged a glance. "Yes sir, we will keep her safe and be thankful for the help."

"Well then, that is settled. We will miss you healer. May the spirits bless your journey, and may we find peace that you may return to us soon."

"Thank you sir," she said, bowing low. "You honor me with your good wishes."

. . .

Traveling on foot, she thought, was a curious use of one's time. The Uchiha had come to the capital with a small contingent of his family, including his brother Izuna, who was now up and about and doing much better.

The younger brother seemed the friendlier of the two. He charmed most of the girls in the villages they passed through, and had tried to charm her too, but a look from his brother made him turn his attention away with a quick half-apologetic smile.

She was relatively sure the men didn't know what to make of her. The Uchiha had seemed scandalized by her lack of traveling attire, which she had shrugged off. After a few hours on the road, he had noticed her bare feet. The reaction had been vaguely amusing. She thought about making shoes just to placate him, but figured it was easier to ride it out and let him get used to the idea.

Besides, shoes would be terribly confining. She finally just told him it was part of her practice as a healer. He still seemed rather disapproving, but held his tongue. For a man used to getting his own way, she thought he handled the situation rather well.

And it was obvious he was used to having his own way, without question. His brother was second in command, and was agreeable with everyone. People seemed to just like doing things for them. With the elder, there was no question of not doing as he asked, immediately.

The first night they stopped was the first night she learned to play shogi. The game became one of her favorites – it was wonderful to be able to strategize without worrying about hurting anyone. At first, Madara went easy on her, but when he saw she was more than willing to do whatever it took to win, he began playing in earnest. After that, the games became much more interesting.

It even earned her a nickname with him – Ryume, the dragon horse.

It was also the first night that they found she couldn't touch him. It had been a random brushing of fingers when he was teaching her how the pieces moved – but she had pulled back as if burned. She couldn't explain it. She liked him, but he felt like death. He took it in stride.

The next morning, he had expected her to be sore from the previous day's journey – but when she showed no signs of strain, he looked at her in a new light. That day they covered much more ground. She could have told them not to go slowly on her account, but she knew sometimes men needed to see and make certain decisions for themselves.

The third day of their journey, she got to see the ravages of war up close and personal. The farms in that area, he told her, had been taken over by the enemy before the Water's forces had pushed them out. Fires still dotted the landscape, and the people watched them with bleak eyes as they passed. It haunted her, that she had not been able to help them sooner. That night, everyone was quieter than usual, even Izuna. She didn't protest when Madara insisted she stay at the center of the camp near his tent while the others made watch. She was too busy trying to come to terms with violence that would destroy land as well as people, without any real purpose except for empty greed. She was a child of violence – but at least that violence had a purpose, as horrible as the end results might have been. The senselessness of war made her shudder.

The next day when they arrived at the front, Madara wasted no time in sending her into the tent with wounded soldiers. It was there that she first started to work closely with others of the Uchiha clan. She was fascinated by their healing techniques, and their use of chakra. In a few moments of downtime, she even tried playing around with it a bit with one of the older women – but the results were less than successful. The women laughed and teased her about being like a child – but soon came to respect her ability to heal cases they couldn't handle, and her stamina. They also wondered at her ability to keep her robe spotless, even in the midst of all the dirt and blood.

They gave her the worst cases, the ones they classified before as hopeless. It was fulfilling, being able to make a difference. Still, it seemed for every life she saved, five more were lost because she wasn't fast enough. It drove her to keep at it until late in the night. She was not the only one kept up. When she was walking back to her tent, she often saw the Uchiha's lamp on until quite late, normally going over battle plans or studying some secret technique. Some nights, he would come find her and ask her to play a game of shogi with him. It was comforting to both of them, she thought, to take a few minutes to be distracted from the horrors the dealt with day in and day out.

All too soon, his prediction about other ninja clans being hired to fight for their enemies was realized. They received word that the Senju clan was approaching. It made the normally taciturn Madara even more solemn.

"You need to stay out of sight," he insisted. "They will have heard about you, and it would be a boon for them to take out our best healer. Plus, you aren't hard to spot, since you insist on wearing that ridiculous robe."

She didn't argue with him. It would do no good to insist she could take care of herself, she knew he had enough to worry about. Had either one of them known what the first big battle would bring, he might have insisted she wear something more non-descript. She wondered, sometimes, if it would have changed anything in the long run. Probably not.

She spread herself a bit thin, protecting him and his brother the same way she did the Daimyo's family. There were risks involved – especially if one of her kinsmen sniffed out where she was – but it was worth the risk. She was growing fond of this strange black and red-eyed clan.

She was in the middle of healing a gaping chest wound when she first felt the presence of the approaching bijuu. The fighting had been going on nonstop all day, and somewhat into the night. The new ninja clan was deadly. The Uchiha healers and she traded off on cases where chakra-attacks caused wounds she didn't have the understanding to fix. None of them seemed to notice the approaching danger.

Slipping out of the tent, she made her way towards the edge of the encampment, looking out over the battlefield. She saw Madara in the distance, engaged in battle with a long-haired man. Izuna was off on the far right embroiled in battles of his own. Before her, things seemed relatively calm, but she felt the energy in the air before her, and the deamon coming closer.

She'd run across its kind before. Somehow, this one felt – off. Something was wrong. And, she didn't know why it would chose to involve itself in the battle, unless it was attracted by all the violence and bloodshed. When the long-haired ninja turned towards her side of the battle field and made a few motions with his hands, however, she began to understand the horror that was to come.

The bijuu broke free of the ground a few hundred feet before her, roaring at the sky. It was a giant ox, with eight tentacles for tales, covered by a latticework of wood. And it was mad. She saw Madara dart a glance in its direction and curse, not breaking stride in his fight with the long-haired man. The battle had just turned even more deadly. She saw him exchange words with his opponent, and saw the taunt thrown back in his face. Evidently, his enemy was willing to do whatever it took to win the battle, even if it meant attacking those with the fewest defenses.

Really, she meant to stay out of sight. She knew that she was more easily noticed than most. But there was no way she could stand back and just let the beast rampage around the camp. And if she could help it, she couldn't just let the beast stay in its current state. She could feel its pain, and it was half-mad with the restraints placed upon it by the long-haired man.

And so, right before the beast was about to charge into the tents, she stepped forward away from the camp and Spoke.

The beast halted in its path, stomping at the ground in front of it in consternation. She noticed Madara and his opponent looking her way before continuing on with their battle, but she figured she would deal with the fallout later. First, she had to deal with the beast.

She noticed a few arrows coming her way, but brushed them off as she walked closer to the beast, still speaking calmly. Its anger cooled into cold calculation. It understood her words, knew the threat behind them even if she spoke calmly. Her reputation was not forgotten, it seemed – and moreover, it knew that even if she had taken a vow of peace, she could still cause more problems than it wished to endure. And so, grudgingly, it was willing to talk.

It spoke to her of the seal that bound it, and that others were held as well. She was amazed by these ninja, who chose to play with these forces in the name of war – amazed and horrified. It was easy enough to break the seal, once she saw it – she may not have understood it, but breaking things is much easier than putting them together. Within a few moments, the beast was gone, and she came back to the reality at hand.

The battle sped up to normal speed. Realizing what she had done, she cursed and hurried back into the tents, noticing that one of the runes on her robe had turned red. Luckily, it was just her cousin. She sighed in annoyance, readying herself for the coming disapproval – and worrying about what Madera's reaction would be. She knew he hated for anyone to cross his orders.

She was in her tent, dealing with an angry chittering squirrel, when he stormed in after the battle was over. The tide had turned shortly after her little stunt, and the other ninja were pushed back to their camp, allowing the second battle of the evening to play out.

He ordered her into his tent and proceeded to express his anger in no uncertain terms. She sat back and took it. How do you explain to someone that there is no real risk to you? After a while, his rant took him into more sensitive territory. Questions like, what actually happened? And, how did you do it? And, when she had given grudging answers to those questions, the inevitable question of, if you can do that, why don't you join us on the battlefield?

It was hard to explain a vow of non-violence to someone who made his living through war. Harder still to explain the reasoning behind it – that it wasn't just for philosophical reasons, that it really was essential to her. They arrived, for the first time, at a true impasse in understanding.

The game they played that night passed in relative silence, neither one wanting to damage the fragile truce that had come together at the end of their discussion. She knew he was still frustrated – but she had no answer for him. The answer he wanted, she couldn't give. But, she had agreed to be more careful in the future, so as to not draw attention to her location. And, they agreed to move the medical tent to a different location in the camp, so it wouldn't be such an obvious target.

Her cousin was not quite so easy to placate, but she eventually calmed down, agreeing to stay out of the way while Kaimi continued to "amuse herself with the silly humans."

No more bijuu came to attack the camp, though the battles continued to rage unabated. The two clans proved to be evenly matched. The Uchihas took more and more casualties, and the cost to the Water's forces were high as well. She helped out the best she could, but she could see the war weariness beginning to take its toll. Her fellow medics began to burn out one by one, suffering from what they called severe chakra-loss. They were even more grateful for her presence, because she seemed to be able to go on forever without tiring. The weariness of constant death and injury worse on her as well, however. War, she thought, was madness.

. . .

"Why are they fighting you so hard?" she asked Madara one night, as they sat at a game in his tent.

"Money," he said. "Protection. Reputation."

"Those seem like stupid reasons to fight."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "It's basically why our clan fights."

She shrugged and moved her piece, and he chuckled. "Besides," he said, "they are our greatest rivals. Whenever we fight, normally we end up fighting against them. One of the prices of being the best, I suppose."

"Don't you ever want something – better?" she asked, slightly wistful.

"I'm not sure it could ever happen."

They played in silence for a few moments, and then she said, "Who hired them?"

"The younger prince of another land, tired of waiting for power." He looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments, and then said, "If he was gone, then there would be no more reason for them to fight."

She pondered that for a few moments, then moved a piece, and said, "Check."

He studied the board and moved his king out of danger, before saying, "Of course, he's strongly protected. Hashirama would know if we ever tried getting close to him, and would react accordingly."

She noticed he had moved one of his pieces into a very vulnerable position, and almost fell for the trick before seeing the risk behind it. Subtlety, she thought, was something Madara had down to an art form.

She was silent for a few moments. She had an inkling of what he wanted this time, and she knew – she knew very well – what it might cost her, even if he didn't. And so she thought about it, long and hard, weighing the cost against the cost of the ongoing war. Finally, she sighed – everyone else was sacrificing. If her sacrifice could really end the war, maybe it would be worth it. Besides, it wasn't like it would kill her.

"Hashirama is the only one even close to being able to best you," she said.

"Hn."

She thought about it. He had told her what the long-haired man had said during their battle, how he had cursed her after she had freed the eight-tailed beast. How he taunted Madara about his "white-robed healer". She knew he would love to capture or kill her. Desire, she knew from long experience, was a weakness – and one that could be exploited, given the right tactics.

"So," she said, "if he was distracted, say on the battlefield, you might be able to slip past his guard and make it to the prince to assassinate him."

He was quiet. She glanced up into his eyes, his face was expressionless. "Perhaps," he said finally, "but it would take a lot to distract him."

She knew about the risks. She knew that this would be different than merely healing people before they went back into the war. She knew that being deliberately involved in this plan, this plan that intended to lead to someone's death, would have repercussions. She knew it would probably mean an end, of sorts. That his subtle hints about having her join with the clan the next time they went off to battle would never come to pass. But ultimately, this war was affecting her people. And it needed to end.

"I can distract him," she said. "It won't be too difficult." She picked up a piece and moved it, saying, "Checkmate."

And so, the plan was hatched.

. . .


	4. The Price of Death

**Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or any of the Uchihas or any other of these lovely people, except for the originals.**

**Warnings - Violence, language, possible mature content in future chapters**

**Reviews, as always, much appreciated :)**

**.................................................................**

The next day, she made her preparations. She let the other medics know that she would most likely be away for the majority of the evening. She borrowed a necklace of shark-tooth steel that had proven useful in a number of previous instances where she had to deal with ninja patients throwing off chakra. It was rumored to be made of the same metal as the as the legendary sword Samehada. It certainly had good chakra-absorbing qualities when worn against her skin. Her body naturally absorbed the strange energy – as it did most anything used against her that might prove useful – but she still had no idea how to process it properly. Left unchecked, the effects were vaguely unpredictable.

At the end of the day, she sat in her tent, listening to the chittering of an angry squirrel. Or rather, not listening – she had heard it all before, and had already made up her mind. She was stubborn that way. Of course, her cousin was almost as persistent as Kaimi was stubborn, which was why when Madara entered her tent he was greeted with the unusual sight of his seemingly indestructible healer yelping and clutching her finger that was bleeding from a freshly-inflicted squirrel bite. The glare Kaimi sent to the small animal finally gained some peace and quiet, and she stormed out of her tent, followed by a vaguely nonplussed Uchiha.

"Are you sure you're up to this?" he asked her, staring as she sucked on her injured finger.

She glanced at him, surprised to see an actual look of concern on the Uchiha's face. "Yes," she said, inspecting her finger to ensure it showed no trace of the bite. She shrugged. "That before, was…"

"Hn."

They gathered in his tent, along with Izuna and the rest of the elite squad that would be performing the attempt at assassination. The plan was simple. Izuna would engage Hashirama on the battlefield, while Madara and the others would sneak through the lines trying to remain undetected. In the middle of his battle, Izuna would appear to fall – and Kaimi would rush out towards him as though to protect his life. Their hope was that the illusion of Izuna's fallen form would be convincing enough that Hashirama would be drawn towards the real prize – the chance at the Water's finest healer, undefended and alone.

Izuna was resistant to the idea at first, even in the face of his brother's insistence. She finally silenced him by reminding him that all of them had made sacrifices, a statement that would come to haunt her later, however true it was.

And so, that evening, they went to battle. She warned Madara to take extra precautions, as she was not certain how well she could enforce her protection of him while engaged in battle herself. She did not want to underestimate the Senju warrior, who was reputed to be the best ninja in all of the lands – or, perhaps, second best. That distinction had yet to be cast in stone. Still, a human who could control the bijuu and the elements of both earth and water was no one to be trifled with.

Kaimi felt nervous excitement as she watched the battle from her spot of concealment. It had been a long time since she'd fought. The incident with the bijuu had been closer than anything. The last time she'd been in a serious fight, she'd lost. Granted, her aunt was the best warrior she knew of, and she'd had good reasons to track her niece down – but those very reasons made that same niece even more on edge, as the scent of blood drifted over the battlefield.

Suddenly, she spotted their prey. Hashirama was flitting around the battlefield like he was looking for something. Madara probably, they seemed to battle every night for hours without a definite winner. She didn't know why there was never a winner in the fight – it just seemed like they would reach a certain point and be drawn off into other side battles. Maybe it was when they got so tired out they were close to the level of the others, maybe neither one was quite ready to give up their best opponent. She knew better than to ask Madara. He probably didn't even know himself.

The Senju warrior was disappointed in his search, however, for the Uchiha leader was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was confronted by the leader's younger brother, whose boisterous exterior belied the wicked killing intent that lay inside. She could feel his heart racing faster than Madara's, but his face was the cool mocking expression of an Uchiha warrior. This battle might be for show, but she knew he was planning on treating it as if it were real. She knew he was still dissatisfied with the overall plan. He might even be hoping he would be able to beat the other man. His motives in that were two-fold – one, there was his over-protectiveness of her, and two, there was his lifelong rivalry with his brother. If he could beat Hashirama, his brother's toughest opponent, it would step up that rivalry to a new level.

She could tell from the moment the battle commenced that the younger man was not quite a match for their enemy. Still, he held his own quite well. She was drawn into the sequence of the battle, watching the terrible speed at which the two warriors joined in conflict. For a while, it was just weapons thrown back and forth faster than a normal eye could process. Then she caught sight of hands flashing in a series of complex movements. She didn't really understand how their fighting style worked – why waste energy moving your hands in the middle of battle? – but she could understand the result. Humans, she concluded, just had funny ways of fighting. Whatever worked, though.

Izuna was the first to break out their strange chakra jutsus. He rolled out off the way one of Hashirama's attacks and blew on his fingers, sending a massive ball of fire across the battlefield towards the enemy. The Senju jumped straight up, making a series of complicated movements, and then blew down at the fireball. A wave of water burst from his fingertips, washing over the fireball and crashing over the spot where Izuna stood. She drew in a quick breath – then blinked, wondering if her senses were playing tricks on her. Because even if she could see his body, she knew Izuna wasn't there anymore. He was – behind the Senju warrior. She saw him, barely, hugging the ground to be un-noticed. Hashirama landed in the water and frowned, looking at the place where Izuna had been. Now, there was only a log. He widened his eyes again, and jumped up just as a crackle of electricity surged through the water at his feet. Turning mid-air, he saw Izuna coming straight for him, fists covered in crackling blue electricity. He made a series of hand movements and suddenly there was a wall of earth between the two of them, trapping one of Izuna's hands. The Uchiha widened his eyes, and tried pulling his hand out of the earth – but then Hashirama punched the wall of earth. The power of his punch was transmitted through the earth. It shuddered, protruding forcefully right in front of Izuna's chest, knocking him back.

She gasped, watching the younger Uchiha flip bonelessly on the ground. She felt his heart flutter in his chest. She knew he was badly injured, more injured than he could have been if he'd been paying more attention. An odd thought flitted across her mind, however, that the final attack could have been much more deadly. The force, while crushing, had been blunted. She didn't have time to think about what that might mean however. She had a part of her own to play.

She rushed out from her place of concealment, not having to fake her worry. She had barely a moment to look over his wounds before she felt the enemy coming closer. For a moment, their eyes locked, his wide with seeming disbelief, hers wide trying to fake a sense of fear. When his look of surprise started morphing into a predatory grin, she opened her eyes wider, and then looked between him and Izuna, before bounding up and taking off at a run. She hoped her performance had been convincing. The princess had dragged her off to a low-class play, once, when things were peaceful, and then tried to talk her into helping stage a play in the palace. The results had been less than spectacular, but she remembered a few of the pointers.

Glancing back, she saw the long-haired warrior speeding after her, and the unconscious body of the Uchiha behind him. So far, so good.

The Senju flicked a few weapons at her as she ran – not the usual knives, these were balls with wire strung between them. His intent, it seemed, was to capture and not kill. She dodged the weapons easily and picked up the pace, running to the side and slightly towards the enemy lines. She planned to duck around the forces into hills neither side paid much attention to. For a while, all she could do was focus on the path ahead, jumping up to avoid brush and weaving around obstacles as they presented themselves. She could barely hear the warrior behind her. He was very good in the woods – but Madara had warned her about that. She wasn't worried. She just wanted to make sure he could keep up.

She surprised a pack of running deer, glancing over to see them rolling their eyes in fear before breaking away from her. It was odd, the feeling of being the pursued and not the pursuer. She danced over the surface of a large lake, glancing up into the sky at the moon. It was beautiful. She could feel her false heart beat in her chest, struggling to keep up with the exertion she demanded from her body. She could feel the chemicals in her bloodstream, the rush of the chase. She loved it, even if she was the one being hunted.

A little while into the next stretch of the woods, she frowned to herself, cocking her head to try and locate her pursuer. It seemed like he had fallen behind. She glanced back, and then heard a great ripping sound in front of her. Turning around, she saw that the ground in front of her had been thrust up to form a large cliff face, roots of trees showering dirt down to the ground from high above.

Interesting. But not really a great obstacle. She reached out and pulled, clambering up the side of the tall cliff. Suddenly, she felt something shoot up at her. Looking down, she saw what looked like a dogs head atop a long neck of wood, snapping at her foot. She was just a bit quicker than it was, though. She grinned, tapping it on the nose with her foot to gain more momentum as she continued her climb. More and more of the things shot up at her. She appreciated the effort, using their failed attacks like stepping stones to help her up the cliff. When she reached the top, she walked into a clearing with a small pool fed by a waterfall atop a larger hill. She stood on a stone in the middle of the pool, turning and gauging their distance from the two armies. Probably far enough away not to cause any major fuss. Good. She was tired of running.

"The tailed beasts have a name for you, you know."

She turned and watched her enemy walk out of the woods. He stopped, gazing at her. She cocked her head at him. This was an interesting development.

The plan was that she would be able to lure him out because of her importance to the Uchihas, her position as a healer. But if the demons had been talking, it opened up a whole new range of possibilities as to why he'd given chase. Desire was an interesting thing. Desire took on many forms. But desire, she knew, was a weakness. Against it, temptation was a fearsome weapon. But to best use temptation, it was all about understanding the prey's true desire. She stilled on the rock, feeling the edges of her robe begin to unravel and sink into the surrounding pool.

"I'm sure they have many names for me," she replied, dropping the pretense of fleeing victim. "Stories they tell their children, and whatnot. I'm surprised they would talk to a human, though."

He shrugged. "I have ways of persuading them to talk."

She narrowed her eyes. Even if she wasn't terribly fond of the beasts, that didn't mean she approved of the way this man treated them.

"I'm curious, though, as to how you got the name Katagi no Tsu-nagori."

She blinked. That was actually relatively mild. She'd heard they had much worse names for her, and tales that shocked even her hazy memory. It had been a while since she saw them, though. Maybe it was their attempt to bind her to a more peaceful nature.

She shrugged. "It's a long story. They didn't tell you?"

He narrowed his eyes, as if in the memory of some frustration.

"They didn't, did they? All they gave you was a name?"

"A name," he said, "and a bit more."

She had no doubt what at least part of that 'a bit more' had been, if he was following her so intently. For a moment, she wondered at what his methods of persuasion had been, and then frowned when she found herself empathizing with a tailed beast. Empathy for former victims was something she could accept relatively easily with when it came to humans, but it was mildly annoying when it came to demons. Still, it was who she was.

"You shouldn't cage them like that," she said quietly. "They're wild things; they should be allowed to be free."

He gave a short laugh, and then sighed. "They're dangerous. And powerful. We need more power. It's the way of the world, healer," he said, saying her chosen profession an almost mocking tone. "We ninja collect powerful things. The Uchiha are no better, are they? After all, Madara has collected you."

She said nothing, not denying the truth of his last statement. If he'd been trying to shock her, he failed.

She knew the Uchiha better than he thought.

Finally she answered. "And now you want to take that power away from him."

He shrugged and made a slight movement with one of his hands, not breaking eye contact. She felt the water around her move as if disturbed, and looked around. Twelve spouts of water were slowly rising from the surface. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering at what this human was playing at. She opened her mouth to speak, when a rain of pebbles rushed at her at a terrible speed, slamming into her so forcefully that her body automatically let them pass through. Gasping, she wondered what he'd hoped to accomplish with that move – and then turned when she heard the sound of metal shattering against the rock face behind her. She reached her hand up to her neck, only to find that her necklace was gone. Eyes widening, she wondered if the Senju had a spy in the Uchiha medical tent. She wondered what all the demons had told him. Whatever it was, his information was sorely lacking.

She felt the energy from the chakra web that was slowly rising around her, pushing up the thin pillars of water that curved up around the rock she stood on. Suddenly, the sheer arrogance of the human in front of her overwhelmed her. "Fool," she said. She opened her mouth to complete that sentence, when her breath was stopped by the feeling of something ripping within her chest. She fell to the surface of the rock, gasping against the pain. Looking up, she saw the flash of surprise on the Senju warrior's face. The agony in her chest was so great that she couldn't even manage a grin at his worry that it was his jutsu causing the pain.

It was done, then.

She breathed harshly, trying to get a handle on the brokenness inside her. So this was what it was like to feel pain. For a moment she cursed the Uchiha for his painful choice of killing methods – then realized it was probably one of the easier ways, a straight stab to the heart. She just wasn't used to it. No way around it, empathy was a bitch.

After a minute, she was able to get some sort of handle on the pain. She pushed herself up, noticing that the water around her had stopped rising. She glanced into the face of one very confused Senju warrior, and managed a tightlipped smile.

"Checkmate."


	5. The Price of Life

**Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or any of the Uchihas or any other of these lovely people, except for the originals.**

**Warnings - Violence, language, possible mature content in future chapters**

**Reviews, as always, much appreciated :)**

**.................................................................**

Hashirama looked down at her suspiciously, and then glanced back towards the two armies, face creasing with worry.

"Yes. I'm afraid," she said, "that your contract may be up, mercenary." Her voice danced over the last word with the same mocking tone he had used to describe her chosen profession. She gathered herself into a crouch and balanced on her hands and the balls of her feet, trying to will her broken body to stand. "Your employer, I fear, is no longer… in need of your services."

"You bitch," he said, making a motion with his hands.

She saw the pillars of water rise up around her and slam together at an apex over her head, surrounding her with a cage of chakra. Standing, she walked forward through the bars of the cage, feeling the chakra invade her body. She caught her breath at the chaos that surged within her, eating away at the vestiges of control she was still struggling to maintain over the form that threatened to unravel. She narrowed her eyes in anger, and the Senju warrior slammed to the ground. "This war," she said, "is over."

Strands of her hair rose up a bit, curling and snapping in a nonexistent wind, letting off a bit of the energy inside her. She walked on a path made by the threads that had unraveled from her robe over the surface of the pool until she stood in front of her opponent. She looked down at the body of the man before her, held tightly to the ground. He locked eyes with her. She twisted her lips in scorn. "You stupid, stupid human."

He stared back defiantly. She felt her anger rising. Intertwined with the anger was a thread of black smoke that seemed to rise from the wound in her chest. *It would be so easy* the smoke whispered to her, silently. *You've already been involved in one death tonight, what would one more hurt?*

The voice was pure temptation. Temptation that knew her desire, knew her addiction. The warrior before her gasped as the net around him tightened, just a bit. She could see blood rising to the surface, see it gather on his knuckled as the net cut in, barely, grating away the surface of the skin. It would be easy. It would feel good. And she knew a part of her would love it. That dark part she had locked away. The dark part she had inherited, and struggled to control, trying to believe it wasn't really her. But she knew it was. She also knew it could never be let out again.

She sighed, and loosened the net, allowing the man in front of her to breathe. He gasped for air, and looked up at her warily. She looked away for a moment, gathering her control. "You are lucky, human," she said finally. "Not many of my kind would let you live after a stunt like that. You should be more careful in your quest for power."

He looked at her a moment, then said, "War is never over." When she looked back at him, he continued, "This war may be over, we will see – but there will be another. And another. It is the way of things. And to survive that, we need more power." He looked down. "It is our fate."

She watched his face with an unreadable expression. His words touched a chord in her. Finally, she said, "Warrior, I will give you a secret of true power. This conflict you are engaged in…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "True power does not always come from being better able to fight, but rather from figuring out how you don't have to fight." She paused, looking into the distance. "Your clan and the Uchihas, both so powerful that everyone always uses you against each other… just think. What if there was a better way?"

She brought her hand to her chest, feeling the flimsy patching inside begin to fray, drawing energy from the rest of her body. The man before her hadn't answered her, but there was a thoughtful look behind the suspicion and anger in his eyes. She sighed. Time to end this, she supposed.

She concentrated, able to feel one of the bubbles of anesthetic she kept in her hand. She brought her hand up to his face, ignoring the surprise in his eyes. "Sleep," she said, willing the quick injection of chemical into his skin. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but passed out with a shallow breath.

Sitting down, she looked around the clearing critically before succumbing to the temptation to just lie back and look at the stars. She pressed a hand to her chest, taking shallow breaths against the renewed pain. For a while she just lay there, and then she glanced over at the man and called the threads back to her robe. It scared her, what she had wanted to do to him. Not so much for what it would do to him, but for what she knew it would do to her. She didn't want to lose herself again.

She glanced down at the runes along her wrist. Her cousin's rune was silent white. It appeared she'd left after their argument. For a moment, she was tempted to call her, ask her cousin to take her home – but she still had loose ends to tie up. Even if there wasn't a whole lot of time left. The wound in her chest was something she would be able to deal with in time, but right now it was sucking her energy away, trying to turn her.

Looking back the way she had come, she was tempted to try and slip back to her tent. That probably wasn't a great idea though. With things this unstable, there was no telling what could happen. She didn't want the decay to gain the upper hand.

Sighing, she stood and dusted herself off, surprised at the bits of dirt that clung to the white fabric of her robe. She brushed her hand over them and watched as they were slowly pushed out, leaving the fabric bright as normal. Probably not a good idea to waste too much energy on vanity, though. She looked at her feet, and then at the warriors shoes, shrugging before reaching down to undo the straps.

She didn't believe in theft, but it was an awfully long way back.

. . .

The looks she received when she finally made it back to camp were horrified.

"Kaimi-sama! What happened to you!"

She looked up and saw two of the Uchiha medics coming her way. She'd been leaning up against one of the tent poles, catching her breath. She was so tired. And hungry. It took all of her resolve not to collapse there and then. But, she hadn't reached her goal yet.

They insisted she sit down and rest for a moment though. She leaned back, waiting while one of the two ran to get her some water.

"Kaimi-sama…"

She looked up at the other medic, one of the younger Uchiha girls who had shown little talent for their normal fighting style. The girl looked exhausted. Glancing over at the horizon, it was easy to tell why – she could see the vague hints of dawn creeping up the sky, lightening the wreckage of the battlefield. She looked back at the girl. "What happened tonight?"

The girl hesitated for a moment, and then swallowed when she looked into Kaimi's eyes. "The battle stopped early," she said. "But Uchiha Izuna-sama was wounded. He's going to be ok," the girl continued, reacting to the worry in Kaimi's eyes, "but for some reason, even though the battle was shorter, it seems like a lot of the wounds were more severe. And the leader, he came back not long after the battle stopped. He's been asking about you…"

"Hah. So, then." Kaimi said, accepting the tin cup of water and nodding her thanks at the other medic. Everything seemed to be in order, then. She drank the water, grateful for the cool wetness even if it tasted a bit dusty. Setting the cup down, she pushed down on the ground, lifting herself up.

"Kaimi-sama! You should rest! We can go get a –"

"It's fine," she said, letting them help her to her feet. "I have somewhere I need to be."

. . .

Madara's face was expressionless when she ducked in the tent. He looked her over, and then glanced back up into her eyes. For a moment they were both still, and then she limped into tent and sat down across from him in front of his desk.

After this long, she didn't really need to have much of an expression to know some of what he was thinking. There was the slightest quickening of a heartbeat that spoke of worry. She'd been able to keep her hold on him throughout all this, even as the energy needed to watch over Izuna and the Daimyo's family was finally too much. There was the minutest tightening of the eyes that told her what she already knew – she looked like hell. There was the slightly relaxed posture that confirmed what she had suspected – the mission was over.

She spoke the question anyhow. "It's done, then."

He nodded. "Hashirama?"

"Alive."

The slight opening of the mouth that told her of the questions he thought of, but decided not to ask her. Like where the body was. Or why she hadn't brought him back. He knew her well enough to know not to waste breath on stupid questions.

She looked down at her hands. They were covered with dirt and grime. Still whole, but somehow – less defined. She wondered how much longer she could last. It wasn't exactly something she had tested out before.

She looked back up at him. "So now we wait?"

"Now we wait."

. . .

The two armies were in a cease-fire from that night onward. A blonde Senju warrior came over the next morning under a flag of truce to make things official. She watched from the sidelines, desperately wanting sleep but unable to find her rest. He looked her way once. His eyes were blue, and cold, almost wary. She learned that Hashirama had made it back to the camp shortly after dawn. She had figured as much – he hadn't been injured when she left him – but still, it was reassuring to know that he hadn't been set upon by wild beasts, or met some sort of an ironically tragic end. She still had this vague dream that somehow, the Uchihas would find some sort of peace, and she knew it probably wouldn't happen through bloodshed. It was strange, how the mercenary family had started to become 'her people' in her heart, just as the ones from the land of water. Maybe not so much. But, she still cared.

They allowed a team of messengers through a couple days after that. They traveled from the kingdom of the prince they had slain, with a message for the Daimyo. There was no telling what the message might contain. It was possible that all their efforts had been for naught, and it was just a message of renewed wrath, and of an older brother wanting revenge for the death of his younger sibling. It was possible he didn't care. The armies waited to hear the news.

A few days after that, a message came from the Daimyo requesting the presence of Madara and his officers. She was asked to come as well. Their journey back to the palace was slow. Madara voiced no complaints. She wasn't the only one slowing them down, this time – Izuna had insisted on coming, even though he was still resting up from his injuries. Sometimes she wondered if he was slowing down for her sake. She didn't like the look in his eyes when he watched her – a look of worry, as if she seemed hollow. She wanted to reassure him. He was too perceptive for his own good.

. . .

When they entered the throne room, the Daimyo was looking over some papers on a table in front of him. The prince sat beside him. His eyes sought her out, flashing a look of worry before they close down. She couldn't tell if the worry was from her appearance, or because of the contents the meeting would hold.

The Daimyo looked at them for a moment, and then picked up a letter to the side of the table. "I received a most interesting letter a few days ago, from the leader of the Land of Red Beans," he said. "Would you be interested in hearing some of the contents?"

Without waiting for their response, he began to read, "We thank you for the removal of our younger brother. We hope that he has not been too much of a nuisance for you, and look forward to continued good terms among our countries, if the terms we offer are acceptable." He stopped for a moment and looked at them. "These terms asked only for a simple blood price for the death of the younger prince – a quarter of the cost of payment for the Senju warriors."

He held them in suspense for a moment before continuing. "Your methods, Uchiha, are somewhat unorthodox, but obviously quite effective. We thank you for completing your contract by securing peace – although," he said, casting a critical eye at Kaimi, "it appears our healer is a bit worse for wear. I suppose it couldn't be helped, however. Your payment, along with the contracted bonus for early completion, will be available from our treasurer whenever you would like to pick it up. You are dismissed."

That was it. After everything, all the bloodshed, this was the end. It seemed a bit anticlimactic.

Madara said nothing, however. He simply bowed to the Daimyo, and turned with his men to leave. He glanced at her before he left, not having to speak to convey his sentiments – she would meet him later; he had something he wanted to discuss. She had a feeling she knew what it might be.

After the Uchiha filed out, she stood at the back of the throne room. The Daimyo was looking over his papers again, but she knew he knew she was still there. Finally, she broke the silence.

"Daimyo-sama," she said.

He looked up at her, and motioned her forward.

She walked toward him and knelt on some cushions that were placed in the center of the room before the thrones.

"It is good to see that your family is well," she said, bowing her head.

"We are glad to have you safely back home with us as well," the old man said.

She sighed. "It is, I fear, merely a short visit."

"Oh? Has your time with the Uchihas convinced you to desire a life of adventure?"

She shook her head. "No, Daimyo-sama. It is merely – my time here is drawing to an end, and I must go back."

"Back?"

"Home."

"Ah."

She looked up at him. She could see sorrow in his eyes. The next part might be more difficult, but she thought it would be a good idea, just in case. One never knew how the future would turn out.

"I have a favor to ask, Daimyo-sama."

"Oh?"

"I would like to ask – for safe passage for me and any of my future heirs, in the Land of Water and any of its allied countries, as long as your family sits upon the throne."

Gasps broke out among the couriers. She could see the older man's eyebrows rising a bit.

"Daimyo-sama!" cried one of the lackeys. "She should have to swear fealty to you! And even then, her heirs?"

"Hmm." The old man looked at her.

"Regretfully, Daimyo-sama, I cannot swear to you. However, your people are dear to my heart, and as you have seen, I have been willing to protect them to the best of my abilities. I hope that my past actions will have some bearing on your decision."

She bowed her head again. She could feel the weight of his gaze on her, and then heard him motioning for a scribe. She looked back up.

"You have treated our family and our people with kindness, healer. It is quite possible that, without your help, some of our beloved family would not be here. Your request is… unusual, however, these are unusual circumstances. We will grant your request and extend our protection to you and your future heirs, in recognition of the protection you have given to us."

She bowed to him deeply. "Thank you, Daimyo-sama."

The scribe wrote out the order, and the Daimyo stamped it with his seal. The scribe then folded it up and brought it to her. She accepted it with gratitude.

"In addition to that order, we will ensure that our own heirs do not forget your kindness. You will always be welcome here in the Land of Water, whenever you chose to return."

"Thank you, again." She stood and bowed again, meeting the old man's eyes one last time. She then glanced over at the prince, who was also sorry to see her go. It was time, however. There was only one more loose end to tie up.

. . .

She found the Uchiha waiting for her outside her quarters. Sending a servant for some tea, she welcomed him inside. The sitting room was a far cry from the dusty tents of the battlefield. Instead of dirt or rugs, the floor was made of tatami mats. A low table sat in the center of the room. The screen on the far side of the room was left open, offering a view of the garden. The sakura trees were just finishing their bloom.

They knelt on either side off the table, and waited for the tea. When it came, she poured them both a glass, and they drank in silence, enjoying the peace of the moment.

"You know my offer," he said finally.

She nodded. "I'm sorry."

His grip tightened slightly on his cup. "You will be sorely missed. Your presence was a great boon to us in the last battle."

She was silent, looking down into her cup. It warmed her hands.

"I will send you letters," he said, finally.

"I will not be here to receive them."

"Oh?"

She nodded, looking up at him. "I need to go away for a while, and rest."

He looked her over, noting the dark circles under her eyes. "You were wounded."

She shrugged. "The war is over."

"Hn. Sacrifices."

She nodded, taking a sip of her tea.

He sighed. "I will miss your protection, Ryume. And our games."

The leaves in her tea swirled cloudily as she gave her cup a slight twist. "You still have my protection," she said, looking up at him.

"Ah? Hn."

She sighed. "Perhaps, we will be able to play another game later, after some time has passed."

"Perhaps," he said, setting his empty cup on the table. "I will look forward to seeing you again."

She set her cup down as well, and stood.

"You as well, Uchiha-san," she said.

They bowed to each other, and she watched as he walked out of her life.

. . .

Soon after that, she slept.

. . .

She was awakened prematurely many years later by the tug of his heart. She blinked her eyes open in darkness, scaring away some random fishes who had chosen to doze at her side. It took a moment for her to focus, and then she felt it – the twin pulses from his heart and brain, erratic and unstable. She barely had time to catch them in stasis before they faded away completely.

She followed the water as far as she could up to him, into an area of the land she was not familiar with. Her body was still weak. When she climbed out of the water, she saw a mass of fallen rock above where she knew his body lay. She looked around. It was nighttime, in a valley. A tall waterfall stood next to the pile of rubble where he lay. Echoes of chakra still lay around the land, and she could feel the remnants of one of the tailed beasts. She sniffed. Kitsune, most likely.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked around for any trace of his opponent, or hint of allies. The trail was cold. She worked her way through the rubble to his body and pulled it out, leaving no trace she had been there. Then, she took his body into the woods for privacy. It would not do to be interrupted in this healing.

She was surprised he wasn't dead, even with her aid. His wounds were horrendous. And his eyes – she frowned. They felt different. Maybe it had just been too long, but they felt – something about them reminded her of his brother's eyes. She left it to worry about later, and returned to the healing.

Some hours later, she sat back, exhausted. He slept peacefully under her watch. She pulled some brush around them to hide them from any intruders, and slipped into a doze herself after setting up a web of trip-lines to warn her of an enemies approach.

In the evening, she awoke and built a campfire. She foraged close to the camp for something edible; almost sorry she couldn't bring him any meat to eat to replenish his energy. She was cooking up a small broth with the vegetables she found when he finally awoke.

"Ryume," he said, startling her. She hadn't heard him wake up.

She brought a bowl of the broth over to him, and he took it, sitting up and leaning against a tree. They didn't speak while he ate. She sat down across the fire from him and watched. He looked older. It made sense, he was older – but it seemed like there was more to it than that.

When the broth was finished, he wiped his mouth and looked up at her. "Thank you."

She nodded, and said, "What happened?"

"Hashirama."

"Ah," she said. They had finally gotten around to it – the last battle, the one that decided once and for all who was the best warrior in the lands. She was slightly surprised at the outcome.

"Where is your family? Izuna?"

He frowned. "Izuna is dead," he said. "And the Uchihas…"

The coldness in his eyes shocked her. "Tell me."

And so, he told her the story of the founding of Kohona. He talked longer than she had ever heard him talk, and she wondered sometimes at the facts behind the tale he told, for he was obviously not unbiased – but still, the tale chilled her. And made her worried, for the family she had once almost claimed as her people.

When he was done, she asked him, "What will you do now?"

He was silent, looking up at the stars. "The enemy," he said, "found a new way to wage war against my family. It is like I told you before. When some people talk to us of peace, they are truly only talking of death – our death. I fear they may succeed." He looked back at her. "I won't let them."

She nodded.

"But," he continued, "our battle tactics will have to change as well…"

He trailed off, looking thoughtfully into the fire.

"Will you join me?" he asked her.

She looked down at her hands. "I – can't."

He was silent.

"I'm not yet done healing. I only came because you needed me."

"I need you now. Your power would be invaluable."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. You'll have to – find other power," she said, hesitating as she said the last bit. She was worried about the power he would find. She knew how determined he could be when facing an objective. But what she told him was the truth – already, she was fading. She was not yet ready to sustain herself.

"When I'm ready, if you're still here, I'll find you."

He nodded. She knew he was unsatisfied. But they had been at this impasse before.

They spent the rest of the evening in silence. After he fell asleep, she watched him for a while, mulling his story over in her head. Then she left, and entered again into the deep darkness of true sleep.

. . .

Itachi shook his head as he lifted from her dreams. It was confusing, and there was definitely much there to think about. He wished he had been able to know what was going on inside of her head – the one thing he regretted about this jutsu was that it only allowed him to be an observer. Still, he had learned quite a bit. He wondered how far her loyalty to Madara ran. He wondered how she would react once she learned the truth of recent events.

He was still pondering these things when he felt a hand snake around his waist, pulling him closer. He was surprised. He looked down, but she was still fast asleep, clinging to him in quiet desperation. He was even more surprised when he didn't feel the urge to push her away. He frowned as he looked down at her, brushing an ebony strand of hair from her cheek. It curled against his finger before lying flat with the rest of her hair. He supposed it was because a part of him knew what it was to sleep with the nightmares of violence. He felt the need for sleep sneak up on him as well, and lay back, wondering again at the pair they made – two children of war, far from home.

. . .

Later that night, when they were both asleep, the bedroom door creaked open and a figure peered in. Kaimi lifted her head at the sound and glanced over, half asleep, but the memory of two red and black eyes looking at her faded from her mind before the morning came.


	6. A Queen is juat a Pawn with Fancy Moves

**Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or any of the Uchihas or any other of these lovely people, except for the originals.**

**Warnings - Violence, language, possible mature content in future chapters**

**Reviews, as always, much appreciated :)**

**A/N: The title for this one is supposed to be, "A Queen is juat a Pawn with a Bunch of Fancy Moves" - but that won't fit! It's from a song called the Queen and I, by Gym Class Heros**

**.................................................................**

The next morning, when Kaimi woke, it was to the sight of the Uchiha from the night before. He was sitting in a chair next to the bed, reading a scroll. There were two cups of tea on a tray sitting on the dresser next to him. The only way she knew he was aware she was awake was from a slight tightening of his fingers.

She noticed that her wrists were no longer shackled. She also noticed that her headache from the night before had diminished. She sat up on the bed, pushing the covers off and sitting cross legged in the middle off the mattress. Since the Uchiha had given no outward indication of noticing her, she spent some time looking him over. He was not that tall, perhaps a few centimeters taller than her. His face was softer than Madara's, rounder. Though she wasn't sure if soft was the right word to describe him. Maybe soft as the whisper of a blade sliding from its sheath. Even at rest, he had the look of a blade paused at the most upward moment where it met the height of the arc before slashing down.

His eyes looked up and caught her gaze with that deadly stillness. Silence stretched between them. She knew she could match his stillness with her own. Madara had always hated that she could, if she so chose, make her face and body a mask even less telling than his own. One of the benefits of having a body that wasn't actually born human, that hadn't learned the expressions from infancy. Her body was perfectly human, but perfectly under her control. If she so chose. Though her patience didn't have much stamina, at the moment.

She cocked her head to the side, and lifted her unshackled wrists. In response, she saw the black in his eyes start to spin slightly. She made a face. Not subtle at all. Not that she was truly worried about the kekkei genkai, but it was an annoying reminder that she'd fallen for it twice already. Her head ached a bit from the bit the night before, and she couldn't remember anything after falling under his trance. She supposed she should be thankful that she couldn't remember the nightmares.

It made no sense why it should give her a headache at all. She ignored the weight of his gaze on her as she looked down at her hands, trying to focus on determining what exactly was causing this reaction in her supposedly perfect body. Interesting. All she could sense was dissonance, and disruption, on a sub-cellular level. The nerves were whole, but inside, they were frayed, the ends holding them together not quite even they way they should be, like their wavelength had been skewed. It made her very curious as to how, exactly, the sharingan worked. She glanced back up at the man across from her, who had gone back to reading his scroll.

He finished reading the scroll and rolled it back up, the slightest hint of displeasure flashing across his features. Setting it aside, he turned and took the tray, offering her one of the cups of tea. She nodded her thanks as she took it, wrapping one hand around the rustically-glazed ceramic and letting the bottom rest in her other palm. She inhaled the delicate fragrance before taking a sip. Tea was one of the things she had missed the most. This was a very good cup of tea.

He sipped his as well, watching her. She glanced over at the scroll he had been reading, deciding not to play the staring game with him for the time being. She wondered what the scroll contained. Reading was another pleasure that she had missed, although this had the look of a missive and not anything substantial.

Itachi finished first. While she was taking her last few sips of tea, a small shape darted from underneath the door. It flitted in the air. She was intrigued. It looked like an origami butterfly, but was animated, and evidently with some intelligence as it landed in Itachi's outstretched hand. He unfolded the paper and read over it quickly, standing and looking down at her as she sat on the bed.

"Your presence is requested," he said.

She swung her legs over the edge and set her cup down on the tray next to his. He turned and walked to the door, not even looking back to see if she would follow. She looked down at the scroll as she walked passed it, curiosity making her want to slip it into her cloak, but she felt his gaze on her again. Annoying Uchihas. Patience was a better tool at gathering information anyhow, she supposed, and she had time. Even if the patience was not very willingly gathered.

As he led her down stone corridors deeper into the cave, she grew more and more certain of what her final destination would be. And found one of her questions answered. They definitely knew Madara was there.

And judging by the look of the room that was revealed when Itachi opened the final door, he definitely wasn't a prisoner. She should have known she could always count on him to have something interesting up his sleeve.

. . .

Madara watched as the woman walked through the doorway. She didn't look any different from the first time he'd seen her. She definitely looked different than the last time they'd met. He gave the slightest movement of his head, and Itachi left the room and closed the door behind him. Such an obedient boy. In almost every way.

He watched as his healer came and knelt at the low table across from him, looking down at the shogi board with no surprise. Her sudden reappearance was a permutation he'd always held as a possibility in the back of his mind. It added a layer of complexity to the game in play. She was a very useful tool, when used correctly. He had a feeling that it would take a bit more to coax her into action this time, however. That was alright, though. It had hardly been a challenge, the last time. And he knew so many of her weaknesses.

"Ryume," he said.

She bowed her head slightly in greeting. "Uchiha."

"You are looking much better."

She shrugged her shoulders dismissively, hands folded in her lap.

"Are you ready to begin another game?"

She lifted a hand towards the board, looked at him, and moved. "I'm sure that much has happened while I've been gone," she said.

"Indeed," he replied, moving in response. They continued the game for a few moves.

"I see you have one of your clan members here with you now."

He pondered a move for a moment, mind absently running through the permutations that lay before them. She was off her game. Not much, just slightly. He wondered if he should push for a win. He also pondered when he should introduce certain aspects of recent history, and the best way to reveal them.

"Ahh yes, Itachi. He's one of two that are remaining, other than myself."

She went perfectly still. "Two."

"He and his younger brother."

She looked up at him.

"Konoha finally made their move, a few years ago."

She moved a piece, slowly. He looked down. Truly, it would be a crime to try and let her win now; she had left herself wide open with that one.

"Only two survivors."

He made his next move.

"You have his younger brother as well?"

"No."

She moved, waiting for him to continue.

"Konoha holds him hostage. And, of course, poisons his mind as well, hoping to control him."

She watched him take his move. "So Konoha still stands."

"For the moment."

"Hn."

He almost twitched his lips at the Uchiha-liked reply. Her face mimicked theirs as well, expression barely hinting at the anger he could tell lay within. His family had always been one of her weaknesses. One of his too, he supposed, for a while. But only mortal men seek their immortality through family.

"Other things have happened as well," he said. Time to play another weakness, the first one he had observed in her. The first blow had been the hardest, and had been accomplished with merely the truth. Well, without lies. Truth was the best tool in a game of seduction. It could weave illusion far more securely than the strongest falsehood. The next blow would be a bit cruder, but her defenses were already cracked. It would have to do.

"After our battle, Hashirama decided to use the tailed beasts as peace offerings to the other shinobi villages."

"Peace offerings?"

"Hn."

"But – how?"

"He developed a method that enabled them to seal the beasts within a human host."

Her move was slightly less erratic this time.

"Of course, the host is a newborn infant, and their body dies when the village decides a new host is needed. And the power of the deamon is somewhat fractured as a result. But the villages have power. And some balance. There've only been three great shinobi wars since then. Itachi was witness to the last one."

And the second blow played. Sympathy. He examined the board before them, contemplating his moves. It would be easy to continue leading in this dance. But so much more intriguing to let her take the final steps herself. He moved, and then paused after taking his fingers off the piece – a slightly risky deception. But probably not a great risk. Even if she saw through it – she knew him. And she'd chosen to take the first step herself, in coming back to him again. Such a very very useful weakness.

She paused with her hands on her piece, and then moved. "Check," she whispered. She frowned at the board.

He sighed. "I must be rusty."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Lies."

For a moment, things held in the balance.

"What is your plan?"

Check indeed, he thought. Almost mate.

"This system we set up so many years ago was intended to help limit violence and bloodshed – or at least, that was one of the claims. To give our families some… peace." He couldn't help but twist his lips on the last word. "The system is flawed. We plan on replacing it with something less flawed. To do that, takes…"

"Power." She looked up and met his eyes.

"Hn." He moved his king out of harm's way. She moved her hand above the board, eyes flicking back and forth between pieces. Normally, she would have seen those traps moves ago. It was so rare he was able to win a game against her. Part of him wondered if he was overdoing it, if he should go ahead and give her the win. But, she would see it by this point, and would be suspicious. No, better just to continue on and take the win.

"We plan on taking the tailed beasts away from the villages."

Her hand paused, and then she moved, gracefully accepting the loss of one of her pieces.

"Power," she repeated.

A part of him wished he knew the extent of her true power. Hashirama had never spoken of the battle between them, but had always gotten the strangest look in his eyes whenever her name came up. He'd heard about her little display earlier while being interrogated. It was intriguing, not for the power, but for the method.

But, if Hashirama hadn't been able to capture her, he wasn't quite sure how it would be done. Not that it couldn't be, he wagered – but she responded so nicely to these methods, even if he did have to settle for owning only part of her power. Besides, if he did to her what he would do to the tailed beasts, he would lose his best shogi partner. He could be patient.

"It's a bit more complex than that, of course," he said, starting the sequence of the ending moves. "But we could use a good medic."

"Hn."

They played the last few moves, until he finally said checkmate, watching her face. She frowned at the board, and then looked up, smiling slightly. "It looks like I'm the one who is a bit rusty," she said.

He shrugged.

She shared a long gaze with him, face becoming more serious. It annoyed him just a bit. She was going to make him take the next move himself.

"So?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "I'm here. And besides, it could be interesting."

He refused to smirk. Checkmate indeed.

"Of course, it might be odd to the others if you were suddenly free and about," he said, then pondered a moment, "although we sometimes have unorthodox recruitment methods…"

"But they don't know you're here," she said. "At least, not most of them."

"Hn," he replied, wondering for a moment how off her game she was. Or how long it would last. "But Itachi can escort you."

"Thank you," she said, standing with a small bow. She turned towards the door.

"And," he said, "He can show you to the library. I know that you always wanted to learn more about our techniques."

She paused in her step, and he thought he detected a slight bounce. Then she turned, and nodded her head in thanks again. "It would be an honor."

They said their goodbyes, and he watched as she walked out the door, back with her young Uchiha companion. He narrowed his eyes after them. That was one permutation to the whole thing he wasn't sure how to deal with, but it would come to him in time. That one little bit of information he'd failed to tell about the Uchiha massacre would most likely work in his favor, once she found out.

Itachi was brilliant, but his overall course was mainly unwavering, even if his loyalty was sometimes questionable. When the time came, Sasuke would be much more interesting. He thought back over the missive they'd received, that the youngest Uchiha was joining the team with the Kyuubi vessel. It was a good step for the boy, if he survived. But only time would tell.

In the meantime, he had his Ryume back. And hopefully, she would be a very very useful piece in this game. He'd caught her, now he just needed to make sure things worked out so that he could keep her.

. . .

Itachi glanced over when the woman came out from her meeting with Madara. She seemed solemn, barely paying him any mind. She closed the door behind her and stood staring into space for a minute. Then, she glanced up at him, face serious. "Itachi-san."

"Hn?"

"You know."

He raised an eyebrow. He knew many things.

"Who he is."

Ahh. "Yes."

"Um," she said, glancing down for a moment. "I'm sorry. About your family."

His eyes widened just a fraction, but she caught it. He wondered what Madara had told her. He wasn't sure anyone had ever expressed their condolences to him for what had happened.

"The Senju…" He wondered if that was a look of guilt that crossed her face before she looked down.

"Hn."

She shrugged. "Anyhow, it seems as if I will be your guest, for the time being. I hope I am not too much trouble."

So polite, all of a sudden. He found himself wondering how long the mood would last. The silence stretched on between them, as he realized she was waiting for him to make the next move.

"Are you hungry, Kaimi-san?" he said, returning her use of the honorific.

"Yes, thank you, that would be nice."

She seemed lost in thought as she followed him back up the corridor to the dining room. He couldn't help but notice that a few stray hairs had come loose from her otherwise obedient hair, and were waving as if with static. He activated sharingan just for a second, and saw even smaller filaments intertwined with the hair, and others that wove in to the fabric of her garment. He thought back to the net he had seen the night before, and the way she had captured Hashirama. It was interesting. She didn't seem to manipulate chakra, these had no infused energy – they seemed to almost be moving on their own, or no – almost as if they were being manipulated by something he could not see, like their ends vanished into nothingness that was not nothingness. As he watched, they drew more compact, less separate than the garment until they were almost indistinguishable, and then they were indistinguishable. Almost as if the cloak was made out of countless strands too small for a normal person to see.

She glanced over and saw him. The peaceful look she gave him was almost like a mask, and then was purely real. They stopped in front of the dining room door, and he opened it.

"Thank you for your courtesy," she said, bowing slightly as she slipped inside.

Kisame, Hidan and Kakuzu were already inside at the table. They glanced back at her when she entered, then up at the man behind her. Kisame pushed his plate back and left the room without saying a word, brushing past her to the door without looking at her. Kakuzu turned back to his meal. Only Hidan was welcoming – which in itself surprised Itachi. Respect was not something he was used to seeing from the strange priest.

Kaimi sat beside Hidan and took a plate, filling it with food. Satisfied that she would be fine for at least a few minutes, Itachi decided to go and check to see if Madara had any further instructions for him regarding their new guest.

He was almost back to the dining hall, thinking over his instructions when the peaceful silence in the halls was broken by a raised female voice, saying, "They did what!"

Opening the dining room door, he found Kaimi on her feet looking down at Hidan. Both of the other ninjas were looking up at her in surprise at her outburst.

It seemed the calm polite mood was over.


End file.
